“Not only are the walls still up, but there’s a great potential for collapse that can be sudden and catastrophic,” George said. “As they continue to work the fire overnight, the water and embers will make the walls weaker and weaker and at any moment they can come down.”

That same scaffolding, however, may have prevented injuries to people on the streets below evacuating neighboring buildings.

When asked about the nature of the structure appearing to be mostly wood, George mentioned that wood is not a surprise, even on a six-story structure like this.

“Wood is making a comeback in a lot of construction areas. It’s not unusual depending on where you’re located, and large buildings like this are typically using wood in a lot of parts of the Bay Area right now.”

Now that wood is in a smoking heap, and the mounds of debris contain so many burning embers that this fire will continue to burn, smoke, and smolder for days.